4 Large U.S. Corporations Set To Publish Earnings This Week

Summary

Investors get another chance to catch up on the latest trends in technology, transportation and the grocery business.

Notably, earnings from Oracle and FedEx have the potential to move markets.

Please consider the risks when investing in shares over earnings names, only hold a position if you are a long-term investor.

With many traders keeping an eye on the World Cup games this week, there are actually quite a few names scheduled to report their earnings in the coming week.

Among the largest US companies expected to release their earnings in the coming week are Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), FedEx (NYSE:FDX), Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) and Kroger (NYSE:KR).

Following is a quick overview of the expectations from each of those earnings.

Oracle

The enterprise software as well as hardware provider is scheduled to release its earnings on Thursday, the 19th of June, after the market close.

Expectations for the quarter have been running high, as shares have risen 12% over the past three months alone. On average, analysts expect Oracle to post earnings of $0.95 per share, which compares to headline EPS of $0.87 reported last year. Note that a beat on earnings is probably required to keep investors happy after expectations might have risen alongside the share price in recent months.

Revenues are forecasted to come in at $11.48 billion, which would imply a 4.9% year-over-year growth rate. Industry commentators praise the company's cloud and big data offerings, while recent releases from Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) saw strong momentum driven by corporations driving up their IT investments.

FedEx

FedEx is scheduled to release its earnings on Wednesday, the 18th of June, before the market open. It will be interesting to see if FedEx will make comments about the recent spike in oil prices over the past week. Of course, oil prices can have a huge impact on the business.

Shares have fallen some 3% over the past week on the back of tensions in Iraq, and have traded with very modest 2-3% gains over the past quarter.

The transportation giant is expected to post earnings of $2.36 per share, up from $2.13 reported last year. Revenues are seen up by 2.0% to $11.66 billion. Besides the recent jump in oil prices, the poor weather at the start of the year might still have impacted operations in the first weeks of the past quarter.

Shares have risen by about $10 from their lows of $130 amidst the harsh weather, which has impacted FedEx's as well as competitor UPS's (NYSE:UPS) business, notably within the US.

Adobe Systems

Adobe Systems, the software company best known from its namesake Adobe software, is set to report its quarterly results on Tuesday, the 17th of June, after the market close.

Shares have been trading flat over the past quarter, but have seen some volatility throughout the quarter. Shares traded at levels in their high sixties, to fall to levels in the high fifties at the start of May. Ever since, a recovery pushed shares back to levels at the high end of the range currently.

Over the past year, shares have risen some 55%, as the company appears to be making a very successful transformation in its business model, moving towards a monthly SaaS business model.

Consensus estimates for the earnings stand at $0.30 per share, which is down from the reported earnings of $0.36 per share last year. The shift in the business model has huge financial implications in the short term, as the company now recognizes subscription revenues when they are realized, and no-longer upfront. Despite this, revenues are still expected to increase, although at a very modest 1.7% pace, which would result in revenues of $1.03 billion.

Note that some volatility is to be anticipated surrounding the earnings release, after shares have more than doubled from levels since the middle of 2012. A valuation of $33 billion has resulted in a rather steep valuation, especially given that Adobe generates revenues of "just" about a billion per quarter.

Kroger

Last but not least is Kroger, the operator of super market chains, multi-department stores, as well as fuel centers and convenience stores. The company has seen a solid performance over the past quarter, at least in its share price.

Shares dipped to levels in their mid-thirties by February, but have seen a huge 35% run-up to current levels around $47 per share ever since. The acquisition of Harris Teeter, as well as solid results have led the recovery in its share price.

Analysts are forecasting that Kroger will report earnings of $1.05 per share, up from a reported $0.92 per share last year. Revenues are seen 8.5% higher at $32.59 billion. The move in the share price, and the deal have pushed up expectations for the quarter, which is something to be mindful of as an investor in the firm.

Takeaway For Investors

The earnings releases discussed above and some other prominent news reports will undoubtedly keep investors busy this week. More importantly, investors get the latest update about how corporate America is feeling about how business is moving along in the technology, transportation and food sector. Each of these sectors have seen quite a bit of news flow recently.

Notably, the earnings release of Oracle and FedEx have the potential to result in quite some volatility, something to consider for (potential) investors.

Please consider the risks when investing in companies when holding your positions over their earnings release, unless you are a truly long-term investor with a long time horizon. Good luck!

Disclosure: The author has no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. The author wrote this article themselves, and it expresses their own opinions. The author is not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). The author has no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.